From End To Beginning
by goldfifths
Summary: ASGZC Soulmate AU. Cloud travels back in time and tries to figure out what to do while avoiding his soulmates. That last part doesn't work out so well.
1. The Beginning

When Cloud first woke in the Sector Seven slums he was certain something was off. For one, he didn't wake in his room in the Seventh Heaven and there were ShinRa propaganda posters taped to poles and desecrated with curses and crude drawings.

Clouds first thought was that someone, somewhere, had decided that it would be funny to remove him from his room and set up old ShinRa posters to get to him.

That thought vanished when he saw four very familiar faces walk toward him, and any thought it might have been some sick joke disappeared when he felt a very familiar pull try to drag him toward them.

In hindsight it probably says a lot about Cloud and his avoidance issues that when he first saw his soul mates he spun on his heel and made a desperate attempt to get lost in the crowd. It wasn't that he didn't want to see them again, he did, but the hole they left in his chest never quite healed and he is left aching at the sight of them; at the thought of what could have been and what was.

He had loved them once upon a time, Gaia, he still loved them, but loving someone and being able to be with them are two different things and Cloud wasn't sure he was able to be with them after what they've done, after what he felt he allowed to happen. So when Cloud saw them walking the streets of Sector Seven he did what one of the things he did best.

He ran.

It was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

* * *

><p>It had been three days since he saw Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth and Zack. Three days since he had a proper nights sleep, three days spent looking over his shoulder at random turns, and three days since he was sent back in time to do Gaia knows what. In the time since he was sent back he got new clothes as the ones he wore when he was sent back drew suspicious looks from the local populace. Cloud had to admit that his former outfit did look an awful lot like the SOLDIER uniform.<p>

Investing in a new set of clothes was one of the first things he did when he got the gil. Now that he wore goggles to hide his eyes and a leather jacket over a black shirt instead of his normal outfit he drew significantly less odd looks from the locals. Then again the First Tsurugi, or any giant sword for that matter, did tend to have that affect on people.

Cloud didn't appreciate their staring.

So far Cloud thought, he had adjusted well, at least, if killing monsters for cash and taking on bounties was considered adjusting well by others he wasn't sure. Then again things that were considered normal for others were rarely considered normal for him anymore.

For a brief time he had considered staying at Aeriths' church again before dismissing the idea. Not because he thought Aerith wouldn't welcome him but because he wasn't sure if he was ready to face her.

He had failed her once after all, and even if she did say she forgave him, it was a different matter if he forgave himself, and he wasn't sure if he did.

He wasn't sure he forgave himself for anything.

Either way he was only now, starting to relax and convince himself that what happened earlier that week was a fluke. That his soulmates hadn't seen him and that he was safe, that he still had time to figure out what to do.

Well, okay, he already knew a few things he had to do. He had to take down ShinRa and make sure his lovers stayed alive this time.

He had no idea how to do that. He could join SOLDIER but they would ask too many questions about how he got his eyes, and while he could lie he wasn't ready to face his former lovers or Hojo again. At least, not yet at least.

He could try for the regular army but they too would ask about his eyes and there was a chance he would be turned over to SOLDIER once they discovered the extent of his abilities. He had no desire to be a SOLDIER, not after pretending to be one for so long.

That left him complementing what to do next when the children he had been telling stories too for the last few days approached him asking him to tell them more.

Cloud smiled, he liked children, he really did, it was no bother to tell them the stories his mother had told him when he was younger. Nodding to them he waited until they took their seats before relaxing somewhat and launching into a tale of Thor and Loki.

His mother always said storytelling ran in the family, and judging by how well the children responded to his stories Cloud was willing to agree with her.

It was funny how watching the faces of his audience as spoke always helped keep him calm and relax.

Well, it was sort of relaxing. He still thought he felt eyes on him when he told stories of old gods and almost forgotten legends taught to him as a child to the children in the slums. But when no SOLDIERS approached him after he finished telling the children his stories he relaxed. It was likely that it was just another adult too shy to show themselves. It never bothered him when other adults listened in anyway, his stories were meant for everyone, not just children. Even if those in Nibelheim never appreciated them.

The eyes stayed on him the next two times he sat on the fountain and told stories to the children. The gaze seemed affectionate almost, and just as Cloud stood to leave one day a voice came from the same direction as the staring.

"So," a familiar voice drawled, "Mind telling me why you ran from me?" From us, is what he meant, and Cloud couldn't mistake the sadness in the other mans voice for anything else.

There, standing in the shadows with a giant sword on his back stood Angeal; staring at Cloud as if he was torn between demanding answers and dragging Cloud back to the the apartment Angeal shared with the others. Never mind the fact that SOLDIERs technically weren't allowed to bring civilians into their rooms without the proper paperwork.

Not that Cloud was really a civilian, or that it stopped others from skipping the paperwork and bringing their one night stands back to their rooms.

But Angeal had always been fiercely protective of his soulmates, and the fact that Cloud had run from him despite the pull he had felt when they had seen each other had rattled Angeal to the core.

It wasn't until after Cloud, deciding that actions spoke louder than words, took off his goggles with shaking hands and turned to face him did Angeal understand why Cloud had run from him and the others. The mako shine in the blonds eyes was unmistakable, and it made Angeal wonder, how exactly he got that shine in his eyes. He wasn't a SOLDIER, of that Angeal was sure, he knew almost everyone in SOLDIER by name, and those he didn't know the names of he could recognize by their face, and Angeal was certain he hadn't seen this man before.

Something told Angeal the procedure hadn't exactly been legal and, at the moment, that was the only thing that kept him from dragging Cloud back to the others. Reaching out and feeling a sort of smug satisfaction when Cloud didn't pull away, Angeal pulled the smaller man into the shadows he had been hiding in.

* * *

><p>Angeal was certain of a few things regarding his new soulmate. The first, was that the blond was, beyond a doubt, a fighter. He moved with measured steps and when he looked at you it was as if he were cataloging what your weaknesses might be in case it ever came down to a fight.<p>

Angeal did not begrudge him that, he did the same thing after all, but it was hard to ignore the way his breath caught and his chest seized when he caught the blond man looking at him like that. It was not the way one should look at their soulmate, and it hurt more than he thought it would.

When he had seen Cloud that first time a few days ago he had been ecstatic and frightened. What would his other soulmates say if Cloud turned out not to be their soulmate also? Would Cloud accept Angeals' other soulmates? He didn't know, but he had seen the fear in the other mans eyes before he turned and ran, and so Angeal resolved not to tell the others about what seemed to be his easily frightened soulmate.

The second thing was that he couldn't have possibly undergone a legal procedure to get mako in his veins. He wasn't a SOLDIER, that much was obvious by the goggles he wore and the way he kept eyeing Angeal as if the other was about to turn him into ShinRa.

He wasn't a SOLDIER, but considering he looked like an experienced fighter, he could be.

Angeal wondered if the blond would join SOLDIER, after a few days of observing him and learning his name, he had figured out that Cloud got most of his gil from slaying monsters and turning in their bounties. It wasn't a steady job, not by a long shot, and if Angeal could get Cloud to join SOLDIER it would be easier to convince the others to meet him.

It'd be easier to keep an eye on him too. Angeal didn't like not knowing where his soulmates were, he was a bit clingy yes, but it was understandable given that in their profession being an hour late coming home from a mission might mean your soulmate had died.

There was a reason it was recommended that SOLDIERs stop looking for their soulmates, and the instability that came with the death of ones soulmate was one of them. Unstable SOLDIERs were a danger enough as it was, there was no need to go and add another reason for potential instability to the mix.

That and having a soulmate in ShinRa gave others a reason to hate ShinRa should their soulmate die, and it gave them the potential to access classified information from their partners mind should they wish.

All in all, having a soulmate from outside ShinRa? Bad idea. Especially if you as high in their ranks as Angeal was.

But now, as he sat in a mostly deserted coffee shop -two men with mako eyes and large swords on their back? Yeah, the place had emptied pretty quickly- on the edge of Sector Seven Angeal realized a third thing about his new soulmate. That he looked startlingly like a kinder, softer, Rufus ShinRa, but where Rufus had sharp angles and a strong nose, Cloud seemed to be, softer, as if someone had taken a brush and reimagined what Rufus might be like had he been born to a different family, a kinder one.

For a moment he wondered whether or not it was possible that Rufus had a brother he didn't know about. The President was notorious for his affairs after all, it wouldn't surprise Angeal to learn that one of his bastards had been living under the radar all these years.

Of course there was no telling whether or not that would make getting Cloud into ShinRa harder or easier. The President was never predictable after all, and he could want Cloud out of sight and out of mind, that was if Cloud even was the presidents bastard. For all Angeal knew he and Rufus could just look like one another without any familial relation.

But staring at Cloud, at the way he fidgeted with the cup of coffee in his hands and the way mako blue eyes shone in the dim light of the shop Angeal couldn't help but dread the answer.

* * *

><p>Cloud knew Angeal was staring at him, he also knew that he was at a severe disadvantage when Angeal began asking questions. How was he suppose to answer them? Was he suppose to tell Angeal that he had time traveled? That in another life Angeal and the others were dead and that Cloud was alone? Soulmate or not, it wasn't likely Angeal would believe that. Cloud would have to lie then.<p>

Cloud didn't like lying, especially when the Bond between them urged him to tell the truth, that Angeal was safe, that he could trust him, that they were meant to be together.

Yeah, because last time that had ended so well. But what happened last time wouldn't happen again, Cloud would make sure of it.

Even if he had no idea how to go about it.

Yet.

A plan would come to him eventually he was sure.

Noticing Angeals rather intense gaze on him Cloud looked up from his cup and stared at the other man with equal intensity.

"So," Cloud began, "I suppose you have questions." Better get this over with.

Angeal nodded and set his cup down on the table.

"Why did you run?"

"I was scared."

"Of what?"

"You." Angeal winced as Cloud said that, it wasn't uncommon for new soulmates to fear one another, especially if they were raised by a partnered pair that had been unhappy. Deciding to muse on the finer details of that answer later, and ignore the way the pain in his chest when Cloud said that, Angeal soldiered on.

"Your eyes?"

"An experiment." Best to tell the truth, he would have found out through the Bond anyway if Cloud had lied.

Being spiritually, emotionally and mentally bonded to a person was great initiative for telling the truth.

"Did you volunteer?"

"No." Cloud said, and the cup in Angeals' hand shattered.


	2. Confessions

The sound of glass breaking echoed quietly through the nearly deserted coffee shop, causing almost all its remaining patrons to vacate the shop in hopes of finding somewhere that didn't have a SOLDIER that looked as if he wanted to kill something.

In hindsight, perhaps telling Angeal, what happened in a public place was a bad idea. Then again, Cloud himself had never been too good with timing things and Angeal had seemed like he wouldn't had taken anything other than the answers to his questions.

Wincing at how quickly the coffee spread Cloud quickly grabbed a few napkins and began to mop up the mess on the table, not surprised that Angeal had already begun to do so. Angeals' anger was a quiet thing, like a blizzard on winter nights, violent and dangerous to those trapped in it, but not dangerous to those outside its range, and obvious in its coming to those who knew the signs. The intent stare, the loss of control, the way he seemed oblivious to anything but Cloud. Angeal was angry, and Cloud didn't need the Bond to tell him that.

Finishing cleaning up the best they could, Cloud shot the owner of the place an apologetic smile before placing a hand Angeals' shoulder as the SOLDIER placed some extra gil on the table to pay for the cup he broke.

Angeal was anything if not considerate, even when pissed beyond belief.

"We should go," Cloud said, "We can talk more at my place."

Angeal nodded, and they left the coffee shop together.

The walk back to Clouds' place was silent, the only sound coming from the bustle of the crowd around them and the sound of their footsteps hitting the pavement. It was the type of silence that lasted until a confession was made and the truth revealed the type of silence that existed when someone knew the question asked but was afraid to answer.

When they entered Clouds' room however, the silence changed, as if suddenly they were both unsure how to approach the impending conversation. Cloud, because he was unsure of what was safe to tell and whether or not the Bond that sang between them, so happy that they were finally together, would give him if he lied elaborately. Angeal, because he didn't know what was safe to ask, despite the need to know what happened to his soulmate he knew from experience that people who were experimented on could be very touchy when the subject was approached and the last thing he wanted to do was scare his soulmate away.

In the end, they both wound up sitting together on the couch while Cloud tried to come up with something between the truth and a lie.

"I suppose," he began, "That you want to know what happened?"

"Only what you're comfortable with telling me," Angeal said. Cloud smiled at that, in the years between the other man's death and Clouds journey to the past he had almost forgotten how understanding the man was. Angeal had always been there for him when he was younger, supporting him both vocally and silently until Angeal defected.

It was nice to have him back, Cloud thought, even if he couldn't tell Angeal everything, his support was enough for Cloud to begin his story.

"I don't remember much," Cloud said, stumbling over his words as he went along, "That time is, blurry, to say the least, I think that, I might have blocked a lot of it out." Here he paused, trying to figure out the words for what happened next, "I was there for a long time, five years at least, most of that spent comatose and in a tube full of mako, or awake and having needles shoved in me."

Seeing how Angeals' eyes darkened as he went through what happened to him, Cloud quickly decided to skip the part where he had been cut open and had organs removed to see how quickly they would grow back, if they grew back at all. Even if they didn't grow back the scientist had the decency to put them back in. Cloud shuddered at the memory, and then tensed as he felt Angeal place a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me," Angeal said quietly "I don't have to know." And for a moment Clouds' heart ached. This was the Angeal he remembered, kind and steady, knowing without needing to be told the limits other people had and only willing to push them beyond those limits when he knew they were ready.

But this Angeal didn't know Cloud; he didn't know Clouds' limits or what happened to him. They were virtually strangers and if Cloud was to stop things from happening in this timeline he needed an in, someone who was connected to his other soulmates and who had earned their trust.

His plan hadn't accounted for Angeal of course, and it would take a few adjustments for him to implement Angeal into his plan but, in truth, his plan might work out better now that he had the trust of someone close to his other soulmates.

After all this Angeal wasn't his, not really, his Angeal had eyes that were a darker than the ones looking at him now, his voice wasn't so rough and his grip wasn't as hard as the one that was currently gripping his hand. This wasn't his Angeal, but it was an Angeal none the less, and that meant Cloud could trust him.

Right?

Either way, he began his story again before doubts had a chance to steal away in his mind. He told Angeal of what he remembered that the scientists experimenting on him had been trying to replicate the strength and speed of Sephiroth that he had only escaped because another poor soul that was being experimented on had the good will to drag his unconscious body around for the better part of a year.

He didn't mention it was Hojo who experimented on him, he didn't mention the screams of the other test subjects that haunted his sleep and he didn't mention that Zack was there beside him the whole time, trying to shield him from the worst of what was happening.

He didn't mention any of that, but, for some reason, he had the feeling that he told Angeal more than he thought he had.

Angeal had kept his face carefully blank throughout most of Clouds' retelling, it was only when he finished did Angeal let the corner of his mouth turn into a small snarl as he spoke.

"Do you remember who did that to you?" Was his question, his voice rough and ungentle, anger lacing his every word and Cloud felt his heart go cold just hearing it.

"No." Cloud said, and prayed that the Bond didn't send any signals to tip Angeal off that he was lying. But Angeal seemed to accept the answer, and after a while, when Cloud walked the other man to the door he felt the awkward feeling of not quite knowing what to say after telling someone those details of that part of his life, it wasn't a part he was proud of, and he definitely wasn't proud of the way he still had nightmares of what happened, but Angeal knew now, and, for some inexplicable reason he felt lighter. Like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders, and when Angeal finally walked through the door and out of his room, Cloud smiled.


	3. Bonds

During the three weeks since Angeal and Cloud first met the two of them had met up several times. Sometimes they met in the park near the fountain where Cloud told children stories of Old Gods, other times they simply walked around the slums talking and browsing the stalls lining the streets, getting to know each other, or in Clouds' case, relearning what he already knew about Angeal.

It was enjoyable, albeit difficult, because no matter how similar this Angeal was to the one Cloud had known he couldn't help thinking that this Angeal wasn't his. That though the smile and laugh were the same and that they shared the same stories he was still fundamentally different from the Angeal he had known. This Angeal, he found, kept looking at him as if he were afraid Cloud might be taken from him at any time. That the ones who had experimented on him would whisk him away and he would never be seen again.

It just reminded Cloud of how different things were now, and how much he had to change. But most of all it reminded him that the people here and now, these people, in this past, were not _his_. They did not know his favourite movies or that he had a scar on the back of his knee from trying to climb up a tree when he was five. Although he knew them they didn't know him and that made them strangers in his eyes.

His other soulmates probably knew of his existence, as there was little doubt in his mind that Angeal had told them about him, but they still weren't _his_. His soulmates, the ones that knew how he liked his coffee and what his favourite band was were dead and buried. Wronged by ShinRa and Jenova and everything else, they were gone from this world and erased from this timeline, form this world. These new people that had their faces and voices that were almost the same and knew all their childhood stories couldn't replace them, and Cloud was tired of trying to find things that could fill the gap that they left behind.

But this Angeal, this Angeal with his too dark eyes and too deep voice and lips that smaller than Cloud remembered came awfully close to filling the gap Angeal left behind.

Cloud wasn't sure if he liked that or not, despite the incessant tugging of the Bond urging him to accept these new people into his life.

The Bond between soulmates, Cloud mused, was a complicated thing. It was, essentially, a bond between two or more compatible minds that let a person know which people were most suitable to spend your life with. Because of this, polyamorous bonds were not uncommon and even encouraged in some circles, despite how complicated having more than one person in your head could be.

Of course, just because some minds were compatible with each other doesn't necessarily mean that they will have a happy relationship. People are still people after all, and people are full of faults by nature and the Bond was the same. It was far from the perfect way to find a match, and it was known that there were some people who were far more happy with someone they had found on their own than the ones the Bond had picked for them.

So it was possible to ignore what the Bond told you and continue on with your life, but Cloud had already known his soulmates, and while he might think that these ones are simply imitations of his old ones he couldn't resist the way the Bond pulled him toward Angeal. Perhaps it was because he felt he already knew the other man or because he didn't have the strength of will necessary to push the other away, but he had known, from the moment he had spoken to the man again, that he wouldn't have been able to send the other away, or suggest just being friends.

Either way that's probably how he got to standing shirtless in the main room of the hotel room he was living in while his four soulmates stared back at him. He hadn't expected to meet them again so soon. Especially not after he had just gotten out of the shower and was only dressed in a pair of dark jeans. Cloud had thought that Angeal would at least warn him before introducing him to the others, Angeal had mentioned his other soulmates before after all, and when Cloud had assured him that he had no problem sharing Angeal or being shared their conversations came much easier.

Apparently he was wrong, because now the four of them sat in the main room of hotel room he lived and stared back at him with just as much shocked, there was no doubting the way the Bond flowed between the five of them, only becoming stronger the more time they spent in each other presence.

Cloud swore quietly as he caught flashes of emotions the others were feeling, his Bond with this Angeal was already pretty stable considering how new it was. But the Bonds between him and his other soulmates were still fluctuating, not surprising considering they had just met each other, still, feeling the emotions of four different people at once because you had no ground work to build shields on or stabilize the Bond with was a bit overwhelming.

He still had to go to Nibelheim and wake Vincent and, hopefully destroy Jenova before she could do any harm, for Gaia's sake. Just explaining to Angeal his intentions to leave the city would have been hard enough considering their relationship was still new and there were some cases of one half of a Bonded pair running away early into their relationship. It would have taken some quick thinking on his part to get Angeal to let him leave alone, but the other three, getting out of their grasp now that they've seen him and before they could grow to trust him and before their Bond could properly stabilize would be nearly impossible and very dangerous.

If a Bond was either left unshielded or was not properly stabilized then potential soulmates would experience flashes of what the other was feeling. How long and how strong the feelings lasted depended on how much time they had spent together. A pair or group that had only just recently met would likely experience stronger and more lasting flashes than a pair or group that had spent a lot of time together. These flashes of emotions could come anytime and you could just be feeling mild annoyance at a waiter but your soulmate would experience incredible anger at what was nothing. Being together muted the effects of the flashes but didn't dispel them entirely, that was why it was recommended that, even should a couple decide not to be together, they spend time together to stabilize the Bond before going their separate ways.

Cloud knew for a fact that ShinRa gave all its employees a three week leave of absence once they found their soulmate so the pair could bond properly.

Cloud also knew that since he was not with ShinRa it was highly likely that once word got out that he was the soulmate of the best damn SOLIDERs in ShinRa he would likely either be threatened or bribed into the company. Needless to say, Cloud didn't relish the thought; he especially didn't relish the idea of meeting Hojo again.

The bastard would probably have a field day with him given the chance.

Cloud cursed again, silently this time, before turning his attention back to the situation at hand.

Him, standing half naked, in front of his four soulmates, three of which he had yet to officially meet. Cloud blinked, Sephiroth and Angeal, who were polite enough not to gawk at his scars, blinked back before Angeal opened his mouth to say something.

Genesis beat him to it.

"What happened to you?" he demanded, blue eyes narrowing at the sight of Clouds' own enhanced eyes.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at the comment, "Didn't Angeal tell you?"

It was Sephiroth who spoke this time and Cloud felt his muscles tense at the mans' smooth voice, he had gotten so used to fighting he had forgotten what Sephiroth sounded like when his voice wasn't coated with bloodlust.

"Angeal told us very little," Sephiroth said, "Needless to say whatever we expected it obviously wasn't this." Sephiroth made a vague gesture toward Cloud.

Cloud felt his eye twitch.

"Well," he said, ignoring the way Zacks' eyes where still glued to his chest, "I'm going to get dressed and make some coffee. Once that's done, then I'll answer your questions." He looked at Angeal, "Or Angeal could do it for me."

"No," Angeal, said, "I believe it is something you should tell them yourself."

Cloud sighed, "Alright then, let me go get a shirt on."

When Cloud came back and sat down to recount his story for the second time he was surprised to find himself being offered a cup of fresh coffee. Thanking Zack, (how odd it was to see him alive, his last memories of Zack were of blood and gore, of bullet wounds and painful last words. Seeing him alive again made something heavy settle in Clouds' stomach and merely further convinced him that he would make sure all his soulmates survived this time, even if it cost him his life.) Cloud settled beside Angeal and settled for the blunt truth.

"I was experimented on," Cloud said, "The people who did this to me wanted to create a SOLIDER that could rival Sephiroth. I was considered one of their failures." Genesis's eyes darkened at that while Sephiroths' usually impassive face let a degree of anger shine through. Zack didn't bother to hide his emotions, rage and shock showed clearly on his face.

"Those scars," Genesis said, "They were the results of the experiments correct?"

Cloud nodded, "Yes. One of the experiments they performed was to see how quickly my organs could regrow. If, you know, they regrew at all. But that's what most of the scars are from."

Zack blanched, "You could be missing organs?"

_They did the same thing to you,_ Cloud thought, _You just don't remember it._

"Maybe, I'm pretty sure they put the ones that didn't grow back, back in though."

"That doesn't make it any better!"

Zack was right of course, he still had nightmares of the cool metal of scalpels digging into his flesh and cutting out his organs but they didn't need to know that.

"The one on your left, next to your heart," Sephiroth said suddenly, "Where did that come from?"

_You,_ Cloud thought viscously, _You gave that to me. You burned what I loved to the ground and made sure I had a reminder to carry with me my whole life._

"I'm a mercenary," Cloud said instead, "I got stabbed."

"By who?"

Cloud tensed, a wave of rage and sorrow washing over him, "I don't remember."

"You're lying."

"I am."

"Why?"

"I don't know you well enough to tell you." That was another lie, Cloud knew Sephiroth like the back of his hand, he knew the other man's likes and dislikes, his fighting style that he cared for those under his command like an older brother. He knew Sephiroth so well, sometimes Cloud though he knew the General better than he knew himself.

He probably did. At least he knew the Sephiroth from his timeline better than himself, this one, he wasn't so sure. But the Bond didn't seem to register that as a lie and Sephiroth accepted the answer with a small nod.

"Then I hope," Sephiroth said at last, "That in the coming weeks you learn to trust all of us enough to tell us what else happened to you."

For the third time that day, Cloud cursed. Then he cursed ShinRa's policy to give newly Bonded soulmates a three week vacation. Then, for good measure, he cursed the fact that he was probably going to have to join the company that ruined his life.

His life was looking up, that's for sure.


	4. Information

The next day Cloud woke to a banging at his door, groaning, Cloud lifted his head from where it lay on his pillow and glared at the offending door; hoping to ward whoever was knocking at his door off. Having no such luck, he wearily got out of his bed and walked toward the door.

Upon opening the door however, he promptly shut it again. It took him a moment to realize that since this wasn't his Rufus doing such a thing was probably a generally bad idea.

Well, he never claimed to be the best at spilt second decision making that was Vincents' job.

"Cloud," Came Rufus's voice from behind the door, "Open up."

It took Cloud a while to process that Rufus knew_ him,_ that if he knew who Cloud was it was possible that _others_ knew who he was too. His fists clenched at the thought of Hojo knowing who he was, because if Hojo knew who he was then he knew who Zack was and what Sephiroth could become.

The thought made his stomach lurch. It was now or never then.

He was going to have to go Nibelhiem. Soulmates and half-brothers be damned.

"Leave ShinRa."

"Cloud," called Rufus again, his voice coming muffled through the door, "Jenova is being moved."

Cloud let out a short bark of laughter, "I figured that much out, the only question is when?"

He heard Rufus sigh from behind the door, "Let me in then I'll tell you."

Grumbling to himself, Cloud opened the door, letting his half-brother in then shut and locked the door behind him.

"Be quick," Cloud said turning to face his brother, "I don't have all day."

"You don't," Rufus agreed, "Your soulmates," here Rufus grimaced, "Are planning on dragging you out today."

"Great, then hurry up, tell me what I need to know and get out."

"Is that anyway to talk to your brother?"

"Half-brother," Cloud corrected, "And it is when said half-brother tried to destroy the Planet."

Rufus raised an eyebrow, "I suppose I should be keeping this information to myself then considering you are a terrorist? And that I, as heir to the company, should probably have the Turks, who don't remember anything by the way, arrest you?"

Cloud scowled, "Was," he corrected, "I was a terrorist."

"And I have no doubt that you plan to become one once again since the reactors are still a threat," Rufus said smoothly, smirking slightly as the scowl on Clouds' face deepened. Rufus was right of course, though Cloud still hadn't figured out a way to get rid of the reactors in Midgar without civilian causalities, he would have to focus on the others first while he figured that out.

He would probably need someone to help him as well; his first thought was of Aerith and his heart skipped a beat, before he beat it back into submission. There were problems with that, for one, the Turks were watching her still, that and she might not remember him or what happened.

The thought caused guilt he thought was forgiven to rise in his throat.

He almost felt like puking.

"Oh don't do that," Rufus said, something almost like pity in his eyes, "We have things to do, and I don't need you moping about while we do them."

Cloud glared at the other man and Rufus chuckled before turning serious again.

"Cloud, if Jenova is being moved then we can assume that Hojo does remember, and that since he does you, your soulmates, and the Planet will be in danger."

"I know that Rufus," Cloud said, ignoring the others barb of –"Well then you aren't as slow as I thought then."- With minor difficulty, "Since that's the case I need to know when she is being moved, ShinRa, so I can blow her to hell."

"While I believe your plan to be crass and simple, I too believe that Jenova needs to be destroyed." Rufus paused, as if reviewing the actions of Cloud in the previous timeline, before sighing, "You are probably the best person for the job." Rufus agreed reluctantly, "However I cannot be connected to this do you understand? I need to be able to stop our father from destroying the Planet any further."

"I understand ShinRa," Cloud said, "Now spit it out."

Rufus smiled, "You're going to have to join either SOLDIER or the Turks."

Cloud blinked once, before cursing loudly.

* * *

><p>"Did we just see Rufus ShinRa leave this hotel?" Zack asked striding into Clouds' living room and plopping himself on the couch next to Cloud, somehow bringing his aura of warmth with him into Clouds' cold rooms. "Because, if so, why the fuck was he here?"<p>

"Language Zackary," Angeal said coming into the room, "But I would like to know what he was doing here."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "How do you know he came to see me?"

Genesis scoffed, walking into the room like he owned the place and proceeding to sit on the armrest of the couch despite the fact there was more than enough room for him on the couch.

"Please," he said, "Who else here is there for him to meet?"

Cloud almost smiled, "He could have sent Turks to meet him here."

"That is almost certainly not the case. We saw no Turks when we entered, nor did I see any when I scanned the area before we came in."

Zack laughed, "Only you would scan the slums for Turks Seph."

"Turks can blend into their environments seamlessly Zack, you would think that after working with them you would know this."

Zack rolled his eyes, but grinned at Sephiroths words before turning to face Cloud.

"So Cloud," he said, blue eyes glinting, "Why would Mr. ShinRa be here."

Clouds' lips quirked into a smile this time, "He offered me a job." He said, and the room went silent.

Genesis was the one that finally broke the silence, "Really?" he asked, "What's the job?"

"He wants me to join ShinRa," Cloud said, "As a SOLDIER." The blinding grin that Zack shot him was enough to let him know what Zack thought of him joining and the others looked relieved. Cloud knew they thought he would be safer within ShinRa than out of it.

Cloud wasn't about to do anything to dissuade them of that notion. If he did, it would just make working around them harder. All of them knew ShinRa was dirty after all, but only Cloud knew exactly how dirty ShinRa was.

He had firsthand experience after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: well things are starting to heat up! what is going to happen next i wonder? also some of you may have noticed that I merged chapter two with chapter one because there was no reason to have them as two separate chapters. also i think it made the flow of the first chapter better so, this is the new chapter four!**


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